Chapter 2:

"Oh my Azrael!" Taylor screams frozen in place as Dawn swiftly moves on ahead. "D-D-D-D-D-D-a-w-n. Ma-ma-may-be we-we should... head back." Taylor cries out stuttering his words. 

Dawn discretely laughs at Taylor's cowardliness and sarcastically replies, "What happened to that macho attitude you had not too long ago? Don't tell me a big strong octopus-like yourself is too frightened to handle this."

Unable to contain herself, Dawn dives right into the wreckage and starts singing with a huge grin on her face. "D-D-D-D-a-w-n. P-p-pl-ea-se." Taylor cries as his body shivers in place. "W-w-we d-d-d-don't kn-kn-know wha-wha-wha-what's out he-here. Let's just g-g-g-g-o-o-o be-be-fore some-thing or some-one sp-p-p-po-ts us." He insists but is unsuccessful in obtaining Dawn's attention.

"What do you think happened here? And where did it all come from??" She says while grabbing hold of just about everything in sight. However, Taylor is too flabbergasted to say another word. His body becomes dead weight and suddenly smashes into the sand making a loud thump.

Dawn's ears trigger the second Taylor's body collides with the sand and for a brief moment, her heart stops as she looks back over her shoulder. "Taylor!" She immediately drops everything in her hands and launches herself out of the debris towards his position.

"Hold on! I'll save you!" Wrapping her arms around his mantle, she tightens up her muscles and pulls up as hard as she can. "Come on get up! You can't stay still for too long, you know how cold it gets around these parts!" She grunts intensely. But it's no use. No matter how hard she tries, Taylor's body just won't budge.

Soon enough the small amounts of warmth left by the sun fade away and Taylor's skin is slowly covered in frost. "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no." She grabs hold onto her hair and pulls on both sides of her head. "The hell am I suppose to do?!"

With her left eye twitching and her face cringing, Dawn slowly loses grip of her sanity. Next thing she knew, she is circling above Taylor's body trying to conjure up ways to snap him out of it. Without realizing it, she fidget-ly thinks out loud. If anyone strolling by happen to hear her, they may believe she's insane.

"Wait! I got it!" Dawn cheerfully shouts while snapping her fingers. She urgently dives down to Taylor's body and uses all of her strength to flip him over belly up.

"Phew. When... When... When we get back home, I'm so cutting you off the clams." She gasps, wiping her forehead and catching her breath. "Ya know, what? I'm, I'm just gonna... lay down... for a minute. Don't. *Gasp* Don't go anywhere."

Dawn goes to lay down onto the sand a few inches away from Taylor's body and hears something rapidly approaching them. Picking herself off the floor, she closes her eyes and listens intently. Not before long she concludes the sound is coming from the city's direction. Her head tilts to the side, wondering who or what it could possibly be.

A few moments later, she unties her shell-lace—exposing her breasts and leans in towards Taylor's body, whispering. "Hey Taylor if you wake up, I'll let you touch me for a few seconds." Taylor's frosted body suddenly flails in place—appearing like it's about to burst any second.

Dawn pressing her lips shut and her cheeks expanding, moves her eyeballs left to right and casually floats backward. Obtaining far enough distance, her eyes divert onto Taylor's body—while holding her shell-lace with the grip of her left hand.

Seconds later, all the frost that was coded onto Taylor's skin are sent flying into all directions and his body emerges from within. Once flung off, the frost turned into piercing shards of ice—so razing sharp they could cut through any flesh.

Dawn's pupils shrink as her eyes widen—seeing some of those shards heading straight for her. She quickly shields her eyes with her left arm with the shell-lace still in hand—turning away. Her ears catch the hazardous sounds of the shards piercing through something causing her body to quiver.

For a split moment, her heart came to a complete stop as the world around her froze. Her spine began to tingle as this is the longest few seconds she has ever experienced thus far. When she finally obtains the guts to lower her arm, she hopes to Azrael that none of them went right through her.

But of course. Who else but Taylor would be floating in front of Dawn's face, waiting for her to make good on her promise. His eyes open so wide and gloss with sparkles like a dog wanting his toy. Dawn lowers her eyebrows and eyelids as a feeling of great disdain emerges from within.

She aggressively releases her breath as she closes her eyes, shaking her head. "You are such a bozo... Alright, let's get this over with." She reluctantly says, holding her arms behind her back with her shell-lace in hand. Pushing out her chest, her breasts pop out to the open and slightly hang.

Given no warning, Taylor immediately latches his tentacles onto her body giddying with excitement. His greasy but yet sticky tentacles slowly climb Dawn's stomach—anticipating the warm exotic texture. Dawn, trying her best not to cringe, closes her eyes shut and pretends that it's her fantasy partner that's touching her.

However, her body still quivers on the inside as her thoughts are tied to wondering when this awkward moment will finally pass. Suddenly a very strange sensation emerges causing Dawn to open her eyes. Her face then became so flushed and the awkwardness rapidly turns into anxiety—as she witnesses Taylor completely covering her breasts and sucking on them.

"Okay! That's enough!" She shouts—dropping her shell-lace onto the sand. She shoves her hands against Taylor's mantle and removing him from her body. Once he is removed, Dawn rubs the palm of her hands against every inch of her stomach and chest—cleansing herself of the slimy liquid that left by Taylor's mouth.

After straightening himself out, Taylor is left sniffling—thinking he has made a complete mockery of himself. "I'm sorry." He says softly, staring down at the sand. Dawn pauses—draws her eyes up from herself and onto Taylor. Feeling pity towards him with a half-smile on her face, she quickly grabs her shell-lace off the floor and ties it on.

"Damn it. I blew it this time, I know it. Urrrrrgggghhh. I shouldn't have pushed too hard. Now I'll never get her to love me." Taylor ponders to himself as he spirals down within his own self-loathing thoughts.

While Taylor continues to wonder if he'll ever win the mermaid's heart, he suddenly feels a pair of lips gently making contact with the side of his mantle. All 3 of his hearts simultaneously melt, while his insides tingle and his skin turns bright red.

"Let's go. I want to find out as much as I can about this place before it gets too dark." She whispers—taking her leave without wasting any more time on the matter.

"Wait, what? That's it?" He questions—swirling his body around with his eyes filled with sadness. "I thought we were finally going to be together." He says sniffling.

Dawn stops in her tracks—inhales a deep breath, slowly releases it and turns around. She rests her hands on both sides of his mantle and looks deep within his gloomy eyes. "We've been over this. I'll always be there for you Taylor and I'll always be your friend. But you're just... not my type..."

With Taylor's hearts being broken yet again, the little warmth that was left from the sun's light faded away. Thus causing the ocean floor to turn white from the bitter cold. And once silence struck between the two, the roaring waters from the Alpec Currents are heard from a mile away.

"Whoa, can you hear that?" Dawn asks—turning around as she lifts her hands off Taylor's mantle. "Could it be?... I think it is. The roaring currents that can carry you just about anywhere. Oh how I would love to experience the rush you get swimming within it." She says with her right hand folded in and her left resting on top.

With his hearts shattered and the darkness rapidly strolling in, Taylor's body quivers as he becomes rapidly uncomfortable. "Dawn. C'mon, we should head back now. I can barely see a thing." Dawn keeps her back turned to Taylor as she rolls her eyes wishing he just stayed home.

"You can go back if you want to. I'm staying. I just need to find out more about this place." She says as she releases the first thrust of her tail propelling herself forward.

"You can't go alone! It's too dangerous! Besides, Sandy would kill me if something were to happen to you!" Taylor shouts—flailing his tentacles about.

However, Dawn refuses to stop and her body tightens up as she thrusts her tail even harder. Soon enough darkness has taken its toll causing Taylor to lose all sight of Dawn and where she may have gone. "Dawn wait!... Dawn!" He shouts repeatedly, hoping she'd return to him.

Just imagining having to explain to Sandy what had happened to her daughter has him twisted into knots. He never really wanted to come on this journey. But after everything they've seen over the years, he couldn't just let Dawn go at it alone.

In the midst of worrying, he still continues to call out into the darkness until he exhausts himself out. While Taylor takes a minute to catch his breath, a strange noise is heard so close it was troubling.

"...What's that sound?" With his eyes running back in forth and his hearts skipping beats, Taylor rapidly loses his mind. Thus causing his tentacles to stomper as they flail in all directions—spinning around in circles. His eyes, vaguely able to see a thing, catches a giant great white crunching his teeth in front of him.

"Holy Azrael!" Taylor squeals as he loses all feeling in his body. Thus becoming lightheaded and a victim to shock—passing out. The poor octopus falls flat onto the ground, yet again.

"Get up, ya lazy octopus! I know you're faking it!" The voice shouts, batting Taylor's body around with his fins. "Hmmm... Oh, I know!" He slams his tail onto the floor causing the ground to shake and shouts, "Oooohhh Inky! Dawn's taking off her shell-lace again!"

However, Taylor's body didn't even twitch this time leading the great white to come to the realization that he is truly out for the count. "Well shit." He mutters staring straight down at Taylor, fidgeting his mouth. Dawn finally comes out of hiding to witness the after-effects.

"You think I overdid it?" He asks softly, looking over towards Dawn.

"Nah. You were amazing Toro." She says—swimming around Taylor's passed out body with a half-assed smile. "He'll wake up eventually." She insists.

Dawn releases a subtle sigh as she tries to figure out what to do with Taylor. "I can't just leave him here, he'll die in this cold. But if I bring him with me, he'll just slow me down. Plus even if he wakes up, he'll just be a mood killer." She thinks to herself—swirling her tongue inside her mouth.

Meanwhile, Taylor's body slowly hardens from the bitter cold as frost once again covers his skin. Fresh out of options, she turns her head over to Toro—cringing her teeth. "Mind doing me a favor?" She asks hesitantly.

Unable to resist the gorgeous mermaid's charm and looks, Toro draws the idea that this will give him the edge over Taylor in winning the mermaids heart. "Not at all my dear. How can I be of assistance?" He replies nonchalantly, with his right fin covering his chest, his head bent and an eager look in his eyes.

"Could you carry him back to Gala for me? I know it's a lot to ask but—"

"It's no trouble at all!" He interrupted—unselfishly willing to help. Not a second later, he scoops up Taylor's body onto one fin and flips him onto his back—wrapping Taylor's body around his fin. "But what about you?" He asks, wondering where she's swimming off to at this time at night alone.

Dawn covers her mouth trying to hide her smile. "I've got a date." She mutters under her breath.

A date??? Is she serious? I haven't seen a merman in ages, plus she's also busy helping her mother out. So when did she find the time to meet someone?? He ponders to himself as his heart quakes inside, his blood starts pumping like he's on steroids and his spine feels like its twisting into knots.

"A date huh? Who's the lucky merman??" He asks, trying to keep himself from twitching. Dawn simply lowers her hands and shares a disdain look towards him with her lips pressed together in the corner of her mouth.

"Silly Toro, we've been through this. I'm only into mermaids." She says shaking her head. In that brief moment, Toro's heart rate slowly comes down. "Oh thank—"

"Besides, that's not the kind of date I"m talking about." She interrupts, being amused by her own little thoughts—discretely laughing. "I've got a date with curiosity!" Dawn shouts, throwing her hands to the surface. Left speechless, Toro looks at her with a blank expression.

"I've just to find out more about this wreckage and where it all came from." She continues, turning around with her hands folded on top of each other. While Dawn continues to lose herself within her fantasies, Toro feels as though his heart has been shattered into a million pieces. Thus leaving him to believe that he somehow got shot down somewhere in the conversation.

"Just be careful and don't take too long." He reluctantly says, turning around and preparing to take off.

"That's sweet but don't worry about me." She insists. "It's not like I haven't done anything like this before, ya know?" Toro gives her a wide-eyed look.

"Yeah... cause that's such a comforting thought." He sarcastically replies. "I'll see you back home then." Dawn waves her friend goodbye as she watches him take off with poor passed out Taylor on his back.

Once they're completely out of sight, Dawn turns around and continues to move forward on her quest. Every chance she gets, the young mermaid hops into the wreckage scavenging for any antiques she can dig up and sneak back home with her. After hours of searching through a quarter of the wreckage, she notices fluorescent lights scattered along the ocean floor not too far from her position.

"Hmm? Where'd all these pretty lights come from?" The confused mermaid spins around and realizes that she's traveled much further into the unknown than she originally thought. "Heheh, whoopsies." She giggles, pressing her fingertips against her lips.

"I suppose I got carried away. Oh well." She grins as she raises her shoulders and throws her hands to the surface. While in that pose, all the trinkets she's collected, from the scattered debris along the way, slowly fall off her body. However before they can fully leave her body, her brain is quickly reminded of the colorful lights in the distance. She then immediately scopes the area until she finds the direction her eyes caught the lights.

Dawn's heart races a million beats per minute as the direction of the fluorescent lights are in her sights. Her rising level of curiosity overwhelms her to the point of rushing off to the closest one without caution. Upon her arrival, she scours what seems to be endless debris.

Before long enough, she comes across someone trapped within the wreckage. Her eyes covered in gloss, Dawn subtly smiles as her cheeks turn bright red. Her heart fills with joy and excitement and gently folds her hands against her chest. With lustful eyes staring down onto the mermaid, she takes in a deep breath and whispers.

"She's... She's... She's beautiful."